Dancing Tales: Between the Past, Present and Future

Cast, crew and audience mingle after the debut show on Friday, Feb. 13. Photo by Macie Groth

Over Valentine’s Day weekend, UMD Theatre premiered Dancing Tales. The total of four shows were artistically directed by Professor Rebecca Katz Harwood, in collaboration with its choreographers, which involved students, faculty, as well as a guest artist from Ragamala Dance Company. 

Act I included six dances: A Fisherman's Tale, The Circe Saga, Nice to See You Again, Prithvi, something missing, and A Cautionary Tale. Some of the inspiration behind these dances included supernatural presence and biblical stories, as well as Greek and Indian mythology. The variety of dance utilized was as diverse as the inspiration; the techniques included ballet, tap, Bharatanatyam, and contemporary dance, among others. 

Stage manager Amelia Clark remarked that the production had “a mixture of multiple different cultures and themes.” She also commented that the goal of this show was to produce “storytelling through dance,” hence the name ‘Dancing Tales.’ 

Audience member Aubrey Loxtercamp echoed this sentiment, explaining that the performances utilized a ‘show don’t tell’ approach. Continuing, she further said that she was “impressed by the use of form, movement, music and lighting cues to emphasize the emotions and tone of each story.”

Act II –Vasalisa– was one continuous performance comprising nine scenes. Based on UMD Professor Emerita Joellyn Rock’s original concept, ‘The Vasalisa Project,’ the scenes combined elements from the tales of “Cinderella” and “Hansel and Gretel”, alongside modern adaptations to the Slavic folk tale Vasalisa. 

According to Rock’s website, her goal with the Vasalisa Project was to create a “bridge for the fairy tale audience between traditional media and new media.” Her multimedia video projections were placed as the stage backdrop, serving as an added visual component for audience members. 

“The experience was super cool and something not like anything I have ever been a part of,” said actress Lily Stark, who played the role of Vasalisa.

It was Stark’s first show at UMD. She added that there was a “unique mix of different arts with the projections, storytellers and dancers.” With the combination of various cultural narratives and Vasalisa’s multi-media, multi-disciplinary aspects, it was indeed a prominent production.